EU comments on European Central Bank's refusal to provide funds to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets

The European Commission is seeking alternative sources of liquidity to the European Central Bank (ECB) to provide Ukraine with a reparations loan in case the frozen assets need to be returned to the Russian Central Bank.

Source: Paula Pinho, chief spokesperson for the European Commission, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Following the ECB's refusal to provide funds for Ukraine's reparations loans, the European Commission is exploring alternative liquidity sources.

"We are also discussing with the European Central Bank what solutions are feasible, what can be done [regarding providing Ukraine with reparations loans – ed.]," Pinho said.

She emphasised that the question of "how to ensure the necessary liquidity… is an absolutely essential part of the discussions".

The Commission spokesperson said that ensuring the required liquidity for possible obligations to return assets, in this case to the Russian Central Bank, "is an important element of the reparations loan. It is a must to ensure that the EU, its member states and private bodies can always fulfill its international obligations".

Quote: "In light also of this position by the ECB [refusal to provide liquidity for the reparations loans – ed.], we are having discussions on how to ensure that this liquidity can be ensured. So we're basically looking for alternative solutions and that's part of all the work which is taking place as we speak on the reparations loan."

Background:

• The ECB refused to support the payment of €140 billion to Ukraine using Russian assets frozen in the Belgian depository Euroclear as collateral.
• Belgium considers a scheme proposed by the European Commission to provide Ukraine with reparations loans supported by frozen Russian assets to be "fundamentally wrong" and that it ignores reservations Brussels raised earlier.
• Consequently, European nations are developing a Plan B should they fail to agree on the use of frozen Russian assets to provide a reparations loan to Ukraine so that the country does not find itself without funding at the beginning of 2026.

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